Andy Finch is at the forefront of modern day snowboarding and he's making most of his noise in the pipe. Although he started his pro career with Boarder X, Finch progressed into the pipe and helped snowboarding hit the hype level it is currently enjoying.

The bulldog has an awesome contest record and is one of the most enjoyable guys to watch when he's freeriding or on a Search trip.

Finch represented the USA in Halfpipe at the most recent Winter Olympics, but had a bit of a shocker so we won't go into the results. He was matching it with eventual gold medalist Shaun White until a mishap-led injury made him axe his final runs.

Away from the hill, Andy is a 'down to earth' genuine guy. He claims he actually likes surfing more than snowboarding these days, which really suits him with Rip Curl. He actually came to the Rip Curl Pro Search in Chile in 2007 to hang out with Mick Fanning and crew - sampling the heavy El Gringo on some of the smaller days.

The dude is also a classically trained violinist and has a great musical ear. He plays everything from classical to modern day renditions of his favorite contemporary bands.